From: Reijer Grimbergen yz yamagata-u ac jp> Date: 01 aug 2005 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 1104, July 13th 2005) Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Get up to $1500.00 Fast and Easy! No Credit Checks! No Paper Hassles! Nothing To Fax! Apply Online and We'll Contact You Within the Hour! http://click.topica.com/= caadHk7a2i6YsbnuqMaa/911PaydayAdvance ------------------------------------------------------------------- In this report the third game of the Kisei match between Sato and Habu.=20 This game was interesting only because of the new opening strategy that=20 Sato introduced. Habu did not put up much of a fight after that and lost= =20 without a chance. Here is the game with comments: [Black "Habu Yoshiharu, Challenger"] [White "Sato Yasumitsu, Kisei"] [Event "76th Kisei-sen, Game 3"] [Date "July 5th 2005"] 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P8c-8d 00:00:00 00:00:00 3.S7i-6h 00:01:00 00:00:00 4.P3c-3d 00:01:00 00:00:00 5.P6g-6f 00:01:00 00:00:00 6.S7a-6b 00:01:00 00:00:00 7.P5g-5f 00:01:00 00:00:00 8.P6c-6d 00:01:00 00:00:00 9.G6i-7h 00:01:00 00:00:00 10.S6b-6c 00:01:00 00:00:00 11.S3i-4h 00:03:00 00:00:00 12.G4a-3b 00:03:00 00:00:00 13.G4i-5h 00:05:00 00:00:00 14.K5a-4a 00:05:00 00:00:00 15.K5i-6i 00:09:00 00:00:00 16.P7c-7d 00:09:00 00:00:00 17.G5h-6g 00:13:00 00:00:00 18.B2b-3c 00:13:00 00:01:00 The first two games were played with the Kakugawari with tempo loss.=20 Both games were won by black, so it was felt that white had to try=20 something else here. Sato plays the Three Bishop Move strategy. In the=20 Yagura, having the bishop on 8d and the knight on 7c is a good position=20 to start a counter attack by P6e from. Normally, to set this up, the=20 bishop needs four moves (3a-4b-5a-8d), but by playing the bishop to 3c=20 early this can be done in three moves (3c-5a-8d). Of course this is not=20 Sato's idea, as this opening was already played in the days of Oyama and= =20 Masuda. Recently, this strategy is almost never seen because there is a=20 risk that white is put on the defensive. If black can attack early,=20 white is not ready for a counter attack through 6e and just has to wait=20 for a mistake. Sato has prepared a new way of playing that might open=20 the discussion on the opening again. 19.P2g-2f 00:15:00 00:01:00 20.G6a-5b 00:15:00 00:04:00 21.P3g-3f 00:17:00 00:04:00 22.B3c-5a 00:17:00 00:21:00 23.S4h-5g 00:20:00 00:21:00 24.P8d-8e 00:20:00 00:23:00 25.S6h-7g 00:20:00 00:23:00 26.S3a-4b 00:20:00 00:23:00 27.S5g-4f 00:22:00 00:23:00 28.P4c-4d 00:22:00 00:25:00 29.B8h-7i 00:25:00 00:25:00 30.S6c-5d 00:25:00 00:49:00 31.N2i-3g 00:46:00 00:49:00 32.B5a-8d 00:46:00 00:53:00 33.R2h-3h 00:46:00 00:53:00 34.N8a-7c 00:46:00 00:54:00 The white moves look pretty straightforward, but the order in which they= =20 are played is extremely important. First of all, Sato has put the=20 bishop, silver and knight in position before properly moving into the=20 Yagura castle. This means that he is ready to counter with P6e at any=20 time. Furthermore, he has played the silver to 4b instead of 2b, which=20 is the normal way of playing. As a result, he can start the fight at any= =20 time, because the Crab castle is strong enough to withstand a reasonable= =20 assault. If the silver would be on 2b, a black attack would be devastating.= 35.P3f-3e? 00:55:00 00:54:00 Putting theory into practice. Attack before white can complete his=20 position or it will be hard to win. However, in this position the king=20 on 6i is very weak. Actually, in the current position the white castle=20 is stronger than the black castle, so this was not the right time to=20 start the hostilities. Better was 35.P5e and then 36.S5d-4c B6h K3a K7i=20 R6b K8h is not bad for black, but white has a solid formation and good=20 attacking chances himself. It seems that Sato's strategy has been a=20 complete success. 36.P3dx3e 00:55:00 01:27:00 37.S4fx3e 00:56:00 01:27:00 38.P6d-6e 00:56:00 01:27:00 39.S3ex4d? 01:12:00 01:27:00 This is a very uncharacteristic blunder. In the Kisei there is a five=20 minute time frame after the lunch break in which the fans can enter the=20 playing room and see the players. Of course, there is no rule that they=20 should actually see a move being played, but Habu might have felt it as=20 an obligation to the fans to show them at least one actual move and=20 rushed his decision. Still, from a professional point of view, the=20 following sequence is too easy. After the game, 39.N2e was analyzed,=20 which is much better. White still has moves like R6b and P*3g, but there= =20 are many difficult variations and no conclusion about who was better=20 could be reached. 40.P6ex6f 01:12:00 01:38:00 41.S7gx6f 01:12:00 01:38:00 42.P*3f 01:12:00 01:39:00 43.N3g-2e 01:33:00 01:39:00 44.P*6e 01:33:00 01:39:00 45.S6f-7g 01:50:00 01:39:00 Also bad is 45.S5g because of P2d, killing the knight. 46.P3f-3g+ 01:50:00 01:41:00 47.R3hx3g 01:50:00 01:41:00 48.B8d-4h+ 01:50:00 01:41:00 This bishop promotion gives white a big advantage. 49.B7i-4f 01:50:00 01:41:00 50.+B4hx3g 01:50:00 01:42:00 51.B4fx3g 01:50:00 01:42:00 52.R*3i 01:50:00 01:42:00 53.B*5i 01:54:00 01:42:00 54.G5b-6c 01:54:00 01:48:00 55.K6i-7i 02:26:00 01:48:00 56.P2c-2d 02:26:00 01:50:00 Black can not safe the knight now and it will be used against him soon. 57.P*6d 02:26:00 01:50:00 58.G6c-6b 02:26:00 01:50:00 59.P7f-7e 02:26:00 01:50:00 60.R8b-8d 02:26:00 01:55:00 61.P*3c 02:26:00 01:55:00 62.G3b-2b 02:26:00 01:57:00 63.S7g-7f 02:48:00 01:57:00 64.P2dx2e 02:48:00 01:57:00 65.K7i-8h 02:48:00 01:57:00 66.N*8c! 02:48:00 02:56:00 Decisive. This both threatens Px7e and defends against B9e. 66.N*6f is=20 tempting, but after Gx6f Px6f N*3d the situation is not so clear. 67.P7ex7d 02:50:00 02:56:00 68.R8dx7d 02:50:00 02:56:00 69.P*7e 02:50:00 02:56:00 70.R7d-8d 02:50:00 02:56:00 71.P2fx2e 02:50:00 02:56:00 72.P*3f 02:50:00 02:57:00 73.B3g-2f 02:51:00 02:57:00 74.R8dx6d 02:51:00 02:58:00 75.B5i-7g 03:04:00 02:58:00 76.P8e-8f 03:04:00 03:00:00 77.S4d-5e 03:05:00 03:00:00 78.R6d-8d 03:05:00 03:02:00 79.P8gx8f 03:15:00 03:02:00 80.P*8g 03:15:00 03:03:00 81.K8h-9h 03:16:00 03:03:00 82.R3ix1i+ 03:16:00 03:05:00 83.P8f-8e 03:17:00 03:05:00 84.N7cx8e 03:17:00 03:12:00 85.S7fx8e 03:17:00 03:12:00 86.R8dx8e 03:17:00 03:12:00 87.S5ex5d 03:17:00 03:12:00 88.+R1i-6i 03:17:00 03:13:00 Resigns 03:17:00 03:13:00 Doesn't look that powerful, but there is not proper defense. 88.G6g-6h=20 +Rx6h or 88.S*7i +Rx7h leads to mate. A complete victory for Sato, but=20 more importantly a very bad loss for Habu who wasn't even able to put up= =20 a proper fight in this game. He seemed to be going through the motions=20 and the general opinion was that the long Meijin match with Moriuchi had= =20 worn him out. Sato is now clearly in the driving seat: 2-1 up and the=20 black pieces in the fourth game. Can Habu make a comeback? --=20 Reijer Grimbergen Department of Informatics, Yamagata University Jonan 4-3-16, Yonezawa, 992-8510 Japan Tel: +81-(0)238-26-3740 FAX: +81-(0)238-26-3299 http://gamelab.yz.yamagata-u.ac.jp/ Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Need Emergency Cash? 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